Trouble with Bleeding: Risk Factors for Acute Hepatitis C among HIV-Positive Gay Men from Germany—A Case-Control Study

OBJECTIVES: To identify risk factors for hepatitis C among HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM), focusing on potential sexual, nosocomial, and other non-sexual determinants. BACKGROUND: Outbreaks of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections among HIV-positive MSM have been reported by clinicians in post-industrialized countries since 2000. The sexual acquisition of HCV by gay men who are HIV positive is not, however, fully understood. METHODS: Between 2006 and 2008, a case-control study was embedded into a behavioural survey of MSM in Germany. Cases were HIV-positive and acutely HCV-co-infected, with no history of injection drug use. HIV-positive MSM without known HCV infection, matched for age group, served as controls. The HCV-serostatus of controls was assessed by serological testing of dried blood specimens. Univariable and multivariable regression analyses were used to identify factors independently associated with HCV-co-infection. RESULTS: 34 cases and 67 controls were included. Sex-associated rectal bleeding, receptive fisting and snorting cocaine/amphetamines, combined with group sex, were independently associated with case status. Among cases, surgical interventions overlapped with sex-associated rectal bleeding. CONCLUSIONS: Sexual practices leading to rectal bleeding, and snorting drugs in settings of increased HCV-prevalence are risk factors for acute hepatitis C. We suggest that sharing snorting equipment as well as sharing sexual partners might be modes of sexual transmission. Condoms and gloves may not provide adequate protection if they are contaminated with blood. Public health interventions for HIV-positive gay men should address the role of blood in sexual risk behaviour. Further research is needed into the interplay of proctosurgery and sex-associated rectal bleeding

Antiretroviral-naive and -treated HIV-1 patients can harbour more resistant viruses in CSF than in plasma

Objectives The neurological disorders in HIV-1-infected patients remain prevalent. The HIV-1 resistance in plasma and CSF was compared in patients with neurological disorders in a multicentre study. Methods Blood and CSF samples were collected at time of neurological disorders for 244 patients. The viral loads were >50 copies/mL in both compartments and bulk genotypic tests were realized. Results On 244 patients, 89 and 155 were antiretroviral (ARV) naive and ARV treated, respectively. In ARV-naive patients, detection of mutations in CSF and not in plasma were reported for the reverse transcriptase (RT) gene in 2/89 patients (2.2%) and for the protease gene in 1/89 patients (1.1%). In ARV-treated patients, 19/152 (12.5%) patients had HIV-1 mutations only in the CSF for the RT gene and 30/151 (19.8%) for the protease gene. Two mutations appeared statistically more prevalent in the CSF than in plasma: M41L (P = 0.0455) and T215Y (P = 0.0455). Conclusions In most cases, resistance mutations were present and similar in both studied compartments. However, in 3.4% of ARV-naive and 8.8% of ARV-treated patients, the virus was more resistant in CSF than in plasma. These results support the need for genotypic resistance testing when lumbar puncture is performe

Infection of Semen-Producing Organs by SIV during the Acute and Chronic Stages of the Disease

International audienceBACKGROUND: Although indirect evidence suggests the male genital tract as a possible source of persistent HIV shedding in semen during antiretroviral therapy, this phenomenon is poorly understood due to the difficulty of sampling semen-producing organs in HIV+ asymptomatic individuals. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using a range of molecular and cell biological techniques, this study investigates SIV infection within reproductive organs of macaques during the acute and chronic stages of the disease. We demonstrate for the first time the presence of SIV in the testes, epididymides, prostate and seminal vesicles as early as 14 days post-inoculation. This infection persists throughout the chronic stage and positively correlates with blood viremia. The prostate and seminal vesicles appear to be the most efficiently infected reproductive organs, followed by the epididymides and testes. Within the male genital tract, mostly T lymphocytes and a small number of germ cells harbour SIV antigens and RNA. In contrast to the other organs studied, the testis does not display an immune response to the infection. Testosteronemia is transiently increased during the early phase of the infection but spermatogenesis remains unaffected. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The present study reveals that SIV infection of the macaque male genital tract is an early event and that semen-producing organs display differential infection levels and immune responses. These results help elucidate the origin of HIV in semen and constitute an essential base to improving the design of antiretroviral therapies to eradicate virus from semen

L’association de plantes compagnes aux protéagineux grains pour sécuriser leur production en agriculture conventionnelle et biologique

Ce numéro est constitué d’articles issus de la seconde édition des Rencontres Francophones sur les Légumineuses (RFL2) qui s’est tenu à Toulouse (France) les 17 et 18 octobre 2018.Pulses are facing several technical issues (weed management, yield irregularity,…), resulting indifficulties for their production. Trials were set up in the Western part of France to solve these problems,using an intercrop with a cereal. The pulse is sowed at the same density as a sole crop and the cerealat low density, to benefit from its presence but without important competition. The experiments wereconducted on winter and spring faba bean, pea and lupin, both in conventional and organic farming. Themain goal was to improve protein autonomy of breeding farms in the west part of France.Regarding weed management, cereals have a better soil cover and are more competitive againstweeds. Therefore, the intercrop has a lower weed biomass than the pulse alone at flowering stage.Regarding yield, results on intercropped pulse yield are variable (increase or decrease). In the case ofpeas, the cereal can be a vertical support for the pea, thus allowing a better pea yield. The total yield(pulse + cereal) is always higher in the intercrop than for the sole pulse.Regarding economic data, the semi-net margin is strongly linked with the pulse grain yield. Thecomplementary cereal production may or may not compensate the over-costs generated by theintercrop (extra seeds, separation, lack of CAP aids for intercrop plots), depending on the situations.Plots were also observed to analyse farmer practices for those crops. Technical management is veryvariable and that variability reflects the vast range of objectives and motivations of farmers to growpulses.Le réseau d’essais mis en place dans le cadre du projet PROGRAILIVE a permis de tester l’associationd’un protéagineux grains, semé à la même densité qu’en culture pure, avec une céréale, utiliséecomme plante de service mais récoltée, pour lever les freins liés à ces cultures (salissement, irrégularitédu rendement, …). Les essais ont été mis en place en Bretagne et Pays de la Loire, sur la féverole, lepois protéagineux et le lupin, d’hiver et de printemps, en agriculture conventionnelle et biologique.L’objectif est d’améliorer l’autonomie protéique des élevages du Grand Ouest.Concernant la gestion du salissement, l’association avec une céréale permet de mieux couvrir le sol etla céréale entre en concurrence avec les adventices. L’association présente donc à floraison unsalissement plus faible que le protéagineux pur.Concernant le rendement, les résultats sont assez aléatoires (baisse ou augmentation). Dans le casparticulier du pois, l’effet tuteur de la céréale permet d’augmenter la quantité de grains récoltée en casde verse. Le rendement total en grains (protéagineux + céréale) est toujours supérieur au protéagineuxseul.Concernant les données économiques, la marge semi-nette est très liée au rendement grain duprotéagineux. Selon les cas, la production complémentaire de céréales permet ou non de compenserles surcoûts liés à l’association (semences, tri, absence d’aide PAC).Des parcelles ont également été suivies pour étudier les pratiques des agriculteurs sur ces cultures. Lesitinéraires techniques sont très divers, ce qui reflète des objectifs et des motivations variées

High-temperature superconducting nano-meanders made by ion irradiation

International audienceIn this article, we report on the fabrication of very long YBa2Cu3O7 nanowires in a meander shape patterned in a CeO2-capped thin film by high-energy oxygen ion irradiation. DC and RF characterizations outline the good superconducting properties of the nanowires whose geometryapproaches the one used in single photon detectors. Their inductance, which mainly sets the maximum speed of these devices, has been measured on a wide range of temperature by mean of a resonant method. The extracted values are in agreement with the ones calculated from the geometry of the meanders and from the known London penetration depth in YBa2Cu3O7 thin films